Fourth-year winger looking to continue strides he made as a junior ... could play a key role in 1999-2000, as Irish look to compensate for the loss of ?99 graduate Brian Urick (126 points in 146 career games) on the right wing ... a classic power forward who ranked among the Central Collegiate Hockey Association?s top freshmen in ?96-?97 ... showed a flair for goalscoring as a freshman but then struggled to find the net before rediscovering his scoring touch at times in ?98-?99 ... his 48 career points rank third among Irish returners for 1999-2000 ... a physical presence on the right wing who can beat opponents with his strength and speed ... drafted by the San Jose Sharks in the 1997 NHL entry draft, with the second pick in the seventh round (163rd overall) ... was the 14th college player, 10th college forward and fifth player from a Central Collegiate Hockey Association school selected in the '97 draft ... combined with classmate Ben Simon (5th round, Chicago Blackhawks) as fourth set of Irish teammates ever selected in first seven rounds of the same NHL draft ... part of just the second foursome of Notre Dame players ever taken in the first nine rounds (?97-?98 freshmen Jay Kopischke and Ryan Clark went in the eighth and ninth rounds, respectively) ... he and Simon were among the forwards on the 1997-98 USA junior national team ... one of six NHL draft picks on the 1999-2000 Irish squad, with the others being sophomore centers David Inman (1999, 2nd round, N.Y. Rangers) and Brett Henning (?99, 9th round, N.Y. Islanders) ... one of several freshmen who made a major impact for the Irish in ?96-?97 while earning a spot on the six-player CCHA all-rookie team ... a talented scorer with solid all-around skills ... a multi-sport athlete and consistent leader throughout his prep career ... played with the USA 17-year-old national team in Japan ... was a candidate to make the ?96-?97 USA junior national team ... part of Nore Dame?s highly-touted class of 2000 that includes Simon and defensemen Nathan Borega and Tyson Fraser ... played at Minnetonka High School with former Irish hockey captain Urick ... could be reunited this season with former USA junior national teammate Toby Peterson, who plays at Colorado College (the Irish and Tigers have a potential New Year?s Day matchup at the Denver Cup) ... one of seven Minnesota natives on the current Irish squad, a group that includes classmate Troy Bagne (Moorhead), juniors Dan Carlson (Edina), Ryan Dolder (Hutchinson), Kyle Kolquist (Duluth) and Kopischke (Alexandria) and sophomore Dan Cornelius (Edina) ... one of 79 all-time Notre Dame hockey letterwinners from the state of Minnesota (out of 234).

CAREER NOTES: His 34 career points versus CCHA teams include nine against Alaska Fairbanks (3G-6A) and five versus Bowling Green and Michigan (1G-4A each) ... has yet to record a multi-goal game with the Irish.

WITH USA HOCKEY: Joined Simon as two of the 13 forwards and two of 10 college players overall that were named to the 1997-98 United States Junior National Team, which took fifth place at the World Junior Championship in Finland in late December and early January ... scored a goal in 8-2 win over Kazakhstan before scoring team?s second goal in 3-0 win over Canada in the playbacks ... joined Simon and Michigan State center Mike York as the only CCHA players on the squad ... spent the summers of '96 and '97 as a participant at the USA junior national team camp ... also joined Simon as two of 23 players who represented the USA in the 1997 Tampere Cup, held in Finland from Aug. 21-24 ... had earlier experience with USA Hockey as a member of the 17-year-old national team that played in the 1995 Pacific Cup, in Yokohama, Japan.

AS A JUNIOR: Played in 34 of 38 games, missing four due to injury ... ranked ninth on the squad with 14 points (4G-10A) ... totaled six power-play points (2G-4A) as member of the CCHA?s second-best man-up unit ... his four goals came on 57 shots (a goal every 14.3 shots) ... most of his 13 points versus CCHA teams came against Alaska Fairbanks (2G-2A) and Michigan (3A) ... called for 18 penalties (36 minutes) ... had one game-winning assist ... ended the season with a -4 plus-minus rating (+1 in CCHA games) ... gave the Irish a two-goal lead late in the second period with 5-on-3 power-play goal in early 4-3 win over Lake Superior ... assisted on David Inman?s early goal in 3-0 win over Ohio State ... had a four-game point streak (1G-4A) as Notre Dame went 3-0-1 against Northeastern, Bowling Green, Michigan and Western Michigan ... broke a six-game scoring drought by assisting on Aniket Dhadphale?s goal in 6-2 win over Alaska Fairbanks ... had a goal and two
assists in next two games ... redirected an Andy Jurkowski pass that set up Simon?s shot from the slot, giving
Notre Dame a 1-0 lead at 1:58 of the first period, in 3-2 victory over No. 5 Michigan before a raucous Joyce
Center crowd ... assisted on Brett Henning?s goal to force overtime with just over two minutes remaining in late-season game at Miami (Notre Dame lost, 3-2).

AS A SOPHOMORE: Appeared in 21 of 41 games, including the first 18 ... served as an alternate team captain alongside Urick, with senior center Steve Noble assuming the captain role ... missed the Mariucci Classic in his home state of Minnesota and a series versus Miami while playing with the United States junior national team ... returned for three-game series at Alaska Fairbanks ... did not play for the remainder of the ?97-?98 season while focusing on his academics ... totaled nine points, with his eight assists including several key plays early in the season ... struggled to find the net, scoring just once on 41 shots ... totaled 16 penalties (32 minutes) ... five of his nine points came in the first three games ... assisted on first goal of the season, a score by Dhadphale in 5-1 win over Western Ontario ... came up with two huge assists in each game of the sweep at St. Cloud State (4-3 in overtime, 4-1) ... helped erase a 3-0 deficit in that first game, assisting on the first Irish goal (a man-up score by Matt Van Arkel) ... later combined with Van Arkel to set up Dhadphale?s power-play goal with 5:32 left in regulation, forging a 3-3 tie ... came back next day to assist on consecutive second-period goals by Noble, the first coming on the power play while the second followed 1:25 later for a 3-1 Irish lead ... notched his only goal of the season at Miami, after redirecting a pass from Simon for a 2-1 lead (the RedHawks won 5-4) ... assisted on Dhadphale?s goal late in the second period that cut Lake Superior?s lead to 2-1, in eventual 3-3 tie ... his final point of the season came on an assist in 4-2 win at Wisconsin, when he sent a memorable lead pass as Noble was exiting the penalty box (Noble deposited a wrist shot from between the circles for a 2-0 lead late in the first period).

AS A FRESHMAN: One of four players to appear in all 35 games ... named to six-player CCHA all-rookie team and runner-up for CCHA rookie of the year, which was awarded to Western Michigan defenseman Daryl Andrews ... tied for team scoring lead with Urick (both had 13 goals, 12 assists) ... netted three power-play goals and two game-winners ... third on team with a 15.5 percent shooting accuracy (13 goals on 84 shots) ... whistled for 33 penalties (74 minutes) ... his longest streak without a point was just three games (Nov. 29-Dec. 6), while playing on a team that averaged just 2.6 goals per game ... recorded 22 points in the first 24 games ... scored team's first goal of the season to spark 2-1 comeback win over Western Ontario ... netted game-winner in 3-0 game at Ohio State ... scored off a third-period pass from Simon to give Irish 3-2 win at Mankato State ... assisted on Dhadphale?s empty-netter in 7-5 win at third-ranked Bowling Green, as the Irish erased a 3-0 deficit ... three weeks later, he added a goal and assisted on Urick?s first-period, power-play goal in another win at Bowling Green (5-3) ... assisted on goals by Simon and Andrusiak in 3-1 win over Alaska-Fairbanks ... had a goal and two assists in series-clinching win over Alaska-Fairbanks (6-2) ... assisted on a Terry Lorenz goal early in second period of 5-2 win over eighth-ranked St. Cloud State ... scored second-period goal to tie game 3-3 in final win, at home over Western Michigan (5-4 in overtime).

PREP & PERSONAL: A three-sport athlete at Minnetonka High School, which also has produced Urick, former Notre Dame softball player Megan Murray ('97) and former Irish goalie Lance Madson (?90) ... played hockey for Faribault High School during eighth and ninth grade before transferring to Minnetonka, where he helped his team win conference titles in his sophomore and senior years ... a member of the 1995-96 Minnetonka hockey team that set school record for wins (21-2-2) ... totaled 198 points in five seasons of prep hockey ... a two-year fullback on Minnetonka football team, earning all-conference as a junior and captaining the team as a senior ... rumbled for 273 yards and three touchdowns (two of 94-plus yards) in his first varsity game ... twice all-conference in track, three times all-city and all-state ... ran 200 and 400-meter dashes on team that captured conference and state titles ... anchored 4 x 400 relay that took state title in school-record time ... turned in best time of 49.4 seconds in 400 meters ... placed second in state open 400-meter ... played in Minnesota's Great 68 all-star game ... born May 1, 1978, in Faribault, Minn. ... son of Dave and Barb Dusbabek ... full name is Joe David Dusbabek ... a sociology major in College of Arts and Letters, with a second major in computer applications.